A soprano clarinet is a

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

that is higher in register than the basset horn or alto clarinet. The unmodified word ''clarinet'' usually refers to the B clarinet, which is by far the most common type. The term ''soprano'' also applies to the clarinets in A and C, and even the low G clarinet—rare in Western music but popular in the folk music of

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—which sounds a whole tone lower than the A. Some writers reserve a separate category of sopranino clarinets for the E and D clarinets,Nicholas Shackleton. "Clarinet", ''

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'', ed. L. Macy (accessed 21 February 2006)
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(subscription access). while some regarded them as soprano clarinets. All have a written range from the E below

middle C C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequency has d ...

to about the C three octaves above middle C, with the sounding pitches determined by the particular instrument's transposition. Orchestral composers largely write for soprano clarinets in B and A. Clarinets in C were used likewise from the Classical era until about 1910.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

also called for clarinets in B when writing in keys with many sharps (e.g. the E major arias in ''

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'' and ''

Così fan tutte (''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written ...

''), but this became obsolete far sooner. There have also been soprano clarinets in C, A, and B with curved barrels and bells marketed under the names Saxonette, Claribel, and Clariphon. Shackleton lists also obsolete "sopranino" clarinets in (high) G, F, and E, and soprano clarinets in B and A.

Contemporary works for clarinet in C

* Richard Barrett: ''knospend-gespaltener'' for solo clarinet in C * James Erber: ''Strange Moments of Intimacy'' for solo clarinet in C

References

{{Authority control Clarinets B-flat instruments